Child's Play
by elle-nora
Summary: Now complete! Originally written for a ghost story contest! Now expanded! Immortal problem child Kenny meets up with three ghosts who offer him a deal!
1. Chapter One

**__**

Child's Play

He first felt them as he was walking along the waterfront.

Kenneth... Kenny to those who made the mistake of knowing him in this day and age looked around fearfully. To anyone seeing him... he seemed a small blonde-haired little boy of about ten years of age. His sneakers were dutifully scuffed and one shoe-lace was inevitably dragging in the mud. He wore a school jacket... red... with white leather sleeves... something he might have gotten from an older brother... one who had played high school sports... It was too big for him... and hung on him making him seem even smaller than he was. His jeans were faded... too long... and cuffed up but they were ragged and frayed where they dragged on the ground.

In reality... this cherubic looking boy was over eight hundred years old... and behind that innocent face that grinned and pleaded for someone to care for him... lay an eight hundred year old immortal who was old and whose very soul was twisted and dark. Kenny had learned long ago that to survive... he had to use his innocent face to gain the trust of other immortals. Gain their trust so they would drop their guard around him... turn their back on him... and die. Kenny wanted to survive! He wanted to be the one who won the prize! To do so... he had realized that he need not be an innocent to look like an innocent.

But he did not like being in the open if another immortal was about. He turned and ran... climbing up into some concrete pipes and crouching within them... hoping the other would not find him... would move on. Then he saw that it was not one immortal... but three. They had felt him... they were looking for him. They were coming!

Kenny clambered back further into the small cramped and very dark crevice and shook with fear. It was no pretense this time. It was real. He could sense those three immortals out there coming ever closer... and if he could sense them, they could sense him. As he stared at their on-coming forms, Kenny realized he could see through them. And... they seemed to float. The three were not really there... they couldn't be.

Closer and closer they came... drawing ever nearer to the small, frightened boy who was not really a small boy. They seemed to rise on the wind until they seemed to float just before him.

They weren't real... they couldn't be real. They had to be some trick of light... some phantom of the imagination. Perhaps they were spirits of those whose quickenings he had taken... perhaps they were mental projections of an immortal nearby who used this trick of the mind to unnerve his opponents so that they were easy targets. And yet... there was something vaguely familiar about them... as though Kenny knew them... even if he had never met them.

All three were dressed in black. One in black leather with steel studs, one in fine black wool, one in silk and cashmere of the finest quality.

The tall, bald one with the raspy voice muttered, "Ahh... my pretty... what have we here! Such a small one I could crush him in one hand. Will he do my brothers?"

Kenny trembled and closed his eyes repeating over and over to himself, "Not real! Not real! Not real!"

The dark one with the long hair laughed, "Someone to play with... oooh!" This one made a sound like he was hissing and writhing in pleasure. Kenny had the distinct impression that this one enjoyed small boys as a special treat.

Kenny pulled his small sword from its hiding place and waved it back and forth before him.

The three laughed.

The third one smiled with a glint in his eyes that spoke of madness. "Already done... boy! Already dead!"

Kenny's sword sliced through the forms but they continued to hover and laugh at his ineffectual assault. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The dark one smiled. "We are the ghosts of villains past... we lost to MacLeod... some part of us yet remains... a part that was not taken in by him who killed us. Our anger grows, our vengeance is undaunted, and we want satisfaction!"

"I hate MacLeod... go bother him!" the boy yelled.

"We need you," the third one said. "We need your hate!"

"Heh... heh... heh!" chuckled the tall one. "We need you little boy."

"Yes... you will do... nicely!" the dark one shimmered ever so slightly and came close to Kenny's face. "You will help us attain the prize."

At that Kenny sat up straighter. "The prize? How?"

The third one whispered, "Only a little of us remains... but if we band together... if we co-operate in death as we did not co-operate in life... perhaps between the four of us... power... illusion... vengeance... and that innocent face... we can become enough to challenge the Highlander... and prevent him from attaining the prize."

Kenny thought carefully. They wanted him... They had something in mind... Would their power be too much for him to handle? Evidently they could not just take him... they had to wait for him to accept them. If he did that... what would remain? Would he still be Kenny... or something else? Still... extra quickening power without running the risk of losing his own head might be helpful. Yet... could he trust them? Implicitly Kenny knew the answer... of course he couldn't trust them... nor could they trust him.

He swallowed hard and lowered his sword... useless as it was against the phantoms before him. "Tell me your names."

All three laughed, and their laughter was like the howling of the wind and the shrieking of the mythical banshee. Kenny clapped his hands over his ears and his cry of terror was added to the sound of their laughter.

"We are Kurgan... we are Kane... we are Kell... We fought the Highlanders... Alone we were not enough... together... we can overcome them. Connor and Duncan now are one... Now we shall be one! And together... the prize will be ours!"

Kenny lowered his hands and nodded. Their power had been legendary. Even if only a little remained... perhaps it would be enough for him to destroy MacLeod...

One by one the phantoms merged with the boy. Each time he writhed and seemed to grow and change. Each time his own anger and hate was met by and amplified by theirs. With illusion... he could be anyone... with power... he had a strength he'd never have possessed on his own. With vengeance... he had the focus to plan his revenge on MacLeod and on... the lovely Amanda. Yes... now he could do with her as he had always wished. Amanda would be his... or at least... as much his as illusion could make her his.

Kenny smiled... then crept out of his hiding place... no longer a child... no longer scared... no longer alone. First things first... he... no... they needed to make some test runs. They needed to learn how to work together... how to combine all their special gifts into a powerful weapon. Kell knew where many of the immortals lived. He'd once had access to a great deal of information. That information was now at Kenny's disposal. They would have to start small... with some of the weaker ones... the ones who weren't really in the game... and then... work their way up... one by one... to those who would be a challenge. Finally... they would face Amanda... and then... oh yes... they'd focus on MacLeod.

"I have funds," whispered Kell.

"With illusion... you won't need funds or passports," snickered Kane.

"With power... just kill anyone who gets in your way," roared Kurgan.

Kenny smiled and noticed his reflection in the water. While he still looked like a little boy... he wasn't. "Show me!" he snarled. His reflection wavered. For a moment it was Kane he saw in the water... then it faded leaving only his own form behind. "Not much power there," he chided.

"We must practice. All of us must work together on this if it is to work at all," Kane whispered.

Kell added. "First we practice... then we plan... then we execute."

Once more Kenny's reflection shifted in the water and he saw himself as a man... blonde-hair... clean-shaven, nicely dressed. The reflection held. Kenny ran one hand through his hair with satisfaction. Maybe... just maybe... this could work.

Whistling, Kenny sauntered back toward the city lights. He had work to do... fun to have... people to slay... immortals to destroy. The prize... always a dream so far away... might actually be his if he... they... could pull this off.


	2. Chapter Two

Amanda danced with abandon at the small out-of-the-way club on London's Eastside. The music was loud, the crowd was raucous, and she could safely be lost here... alone here... anonymous here... Within the warm embrace of those who did not know her... she felt comfortable.

She had begun to notice, in the past few years, ever since the millennium had dawned, how seldom she ran into immortals these days... as if they who were so few as it was... were suddenly even fewer. _Well_, Amanda rationalized. _It is the time of the Gathering!_

It wasn't that her friends had suddenly disappeared so much as they had moved on with their lives. They had found other pursuits... other loves... other places to live. As had she.

Seeking a place she had not lived at, in well over half a century... she had returned to the land of her birth... and the city of London. As she had re-familiarized herself with the city... she'd been struck once more by just how much the city had changed since she'd been here last. 

Amanda rented a flat in a well-regarded neighborhood... top floor... always, top floor. She'd searched long and hard for the perfect apartment... and had even dug into her emergency stash of funds to be certain she got it. It was absolutely perfect for her.

The floor-to-ceiling windows, letting in great light, had intricate iron-scroll grills that denied the chance of any easy access.

When she'd commented on them the agent had murmured, "When the owners lived here... they had small children. They loved opening the windows to let in the fresh air... but wanted the children to be safe."

Amanda had folded her sunglasses in her hands and tucked her left hand under her chin while she nodded pleasantly. The iron grills were a definite plus. If she got the place... she'd make certain they were sturdy and secure.

Meanwhile... the high medallion ceilings, the white-painted walls and woodwork, the old-fashioned gas range... Amanda had shivered in delight. "I don't know..." she'd said disinterestedly. It's so white... so old-fashioned... It would take some work."

"I'm certain we can reach an arrangement," the agent had said with a small smile of encouragement. Amanda could hear the pleading in the woman's voice. Amanda just loved working with very young agents. They were so dim and so eager to please.

The deal was struck... and Amanda had the flat of her dreams. White... furnished in ultra-modern chic... lots of black leather... lots of chrome... lots of open space.

And the club scene within the neighborhood was to die for!

There were no fewer than eight nightclubs catering to the young, the hip, and the beautiful. While Amanda was certainly not young... being close to twelve hundred years old, she _was_ hip... and she _was _beautiful.

The music rose to a crescendo... and then stopped. The crowd on the dance floor groaned and applauded. Groaned because the band was taking a break. Applauded because they really were quite good.

"Back in twenty!" the lead singer mouthed into the mike... then waved as he and his mates headed off stage. Some techie hit the switch and recorded music blared from the speakers. Much of the crowd continued to dance... it was music... that was all they cared about.

Amanda threaded her way through the crowd toward the bar. "Jack... neat" she told the bartender and awaited her bourbon. Stirring her drink with the tiny red stir and sipping slowly she regarded the throng of club-hoppers. 

She could feel someone here... but so far... no one had looked around with that startled look so many of the young ones had. Nor could she see anyone off to one side regarding the crowd in much the way she was. Yet... there was someone here.

Shrugging... Amanda set her drink on the bar and gathered her wrap. Flinging the black wool cape about her shoulders and feeling the comforting feel of her hidden blade, Amanda headed for the door. If there were someone here... perhaps he would follow her out into the London fog and make her acquaintance. She would be ready for him. Amanda assumed it was male... most of them were. 

In the darkened street, Amanda paused at the head of a nearby alley... waiting... sensing... but no one followed. Could she have been mistaken? Surely not... Amanda was old enough to know when an immortal was about... and skilled enough to know how to either avoid or face them. Right now... she was interested in just who it was she had felt... and why he had not revealed himself.

Some fifteen minutes later, Amanda decided whoever it was... had not followed her. No longer in the mood for clubbing... despite the sounds of the live music emanating once more from the club... she headed home. It was only a few blocks... and she was armed. Amanda was most definitely armed.

***

Robert Sutton had struck gold! The fiery red-head he'd met at the club was practically attacking him as they drunkenly made their way to his flat.

Her tongue kept darting into his ear and her fingers slipped beneath his shirt in search of his chest. Those fingers didn't just caress... they pinched. God! He wanted her now... in the lift... he was so hot for her! They rolled from wall to wall. She leaped at him... wrapping those long leather-coated legs of hers about his waist. He thought she'd squeeze the life out of him as leaned into him, suddenly biting his lip and drawing blood.

"Mmm... little boy! Tastes good!" Her dark eyes seemed to widen in anticipation as she licked her lips with her tongue. Robert felt his need for her rise to fever pitch! Just how had he gotten so lucky!

The lift doors opened and he stumbled out onto his hallway, carrying her. He landed against the wall. She hopped down, grabbing his shirt into her fists and ripped. Laughing... she began to lick and bite his chest.

"My key... let me get my key!" Robert groaned as he fingered for his keys in his pocket. "My place... it's right here."

"Heh... heh... of course!" Her voice sounded oddly deeper. For a moment Robert could have sworn it was a man's voice he heard... Finally grasping his keys... he fumbled with them at the lock... all the while feeling her hands rubbing his back... his chest... his head... his...

Opening the door he flipped the switch, turning on the lights. She followed him in and stood for a moment silhouetted against the brighter light of the hallway. God she was gorgeous. Long flowing red-hair... brown eyes... creamy skin like mocha... clad in black leather tied with laces that only served to accentuate all the positives of her figure. She kicked the door shut behind her with one booted foot.

"So... we're here... my bedroom's this way!" Robert said lamely... suddenly not at all sure about the next move.

"Had an accident lately?" she asked oddly as she reached to turn out the lights. "Something happen to you that you can't quite explain? Did you wonder why you reacted so to me at the club... why you got all tingly?" She seemed to shiver in delight in the darkness.

And it was at that point that Robert thought he heard metal sliding along metal... that he thought he saw a flash of light from the outside neon lights reflected on something long and thin. It was the last thing he ever saw.

***

Kenny felt oddly sick. He sat with his knees drawn up to his chest on the floor of Robert Sutton's flat and tried to rub the taste of the man out of his mouth. Glancing at the mirror... Kenny could see the laughing face of Kane super-imposed of his own.

"What's the matter little boy... didn't you enjoy him!"

"I still don't see why I had to kiss him."

"Heh... heh... heh," Kurgan's face twisted over Kane's. "All the better to take his head!" The Kurgan seemed to laugh maniacally. Kenny held his hands over his ears and tried to made the laughter go away.

At first he'd been more in control. He'd let them help him and he'd managed to kill over twenty immortals in the past six months. But lately... _they_ seemed to be growing stronger... more daring... more in control of the body the four of them shared. And Kenny found himself doing things that even he was ashamed of.

Taking the green Sutton's head had been fine. It was what he'd been compelled to do while within Kane's illusion that had bothered him. And this wasn't the first time. Kenny rubbed his mouth with his sleeve and shivered.

"Focus boy!" Kell's even tone drowned out the laughter of the others. "Sutton only became immortal recently. He did not know what he was. He's perfect for our plan."

"You mean your plan!" Kenny snapped at him.

"Our plan!" Kell insisted. "Practice is over. Our joint control is complete. We four now work together as a unit. We are ready to begin. You wanted Amanda... Now... with Robert Sutton's identity... we can get her. You will become her student... you will learn from her... and when the time is right... You will have her." Kell's reflection seemed to smile coldly. "And once we have Amanda..."

"MacLeod! We get MacLeod!" Kenny nodded, but he was still shaking in the aftermath of what he done this night. It had become all too easy to appear as what his victim most desired. It was child's play to show interest... to indicate desire. His control... even within the illusion had been perfect. Sutton never had a chance. His quickening had been pitiful, but it only served to grant Kenny even more power. But was it worth it? He was losing himself to these men!

"MacLeod!" shouted Kurgan loudly!

"MacLeod!" hissed Kane.

"MacLeod," Kell whispered.

Again and again the mantra of the three sounded within his mind until all thoughts of anything else were gone and there was only the name.

"MacLeod," the boy agreed, and leered at his own innocent reflection in the mirror.

Kenny curled into a ball on the floor of Robert Sutton's flat and closed his eyes. He'd get rid of the body tomorrow. Right now... he needed to sleep... and dream of all the things he would do with... Amanda.

***


	3. Chapter Three

Joe Dawson slowly made his way from behind the bar of his Paris nightclub and settled heavily into a wooden chair at one of the tables. He lay the cane he used to help him walk to one side and poured himself a scotch.

Thoughtfully he lifted the glass to stare morosely into it. Since Duncan MacLeod had killed his kinsman Connor MacLeod a few years ago... the Highlander had wanted little to do with Joe. That whole Sanctuary business... as part of the "official" Watcher policy to make certain the Game never ended... had pulled seriously at the bonds of friendship the two men had shared over the years.

In fact... Joe had turned Duncan's file over to a younger Watcher while he basically retired. Oh... he still taught a few classes at the Watcher Academy both here in Paris and in London... and he had a seat and a voice on the Watcher Council... but he'd given up the day-to-day Watching.

He didn't miss it! Especially on days like today! A phone call from his daughter Amy Brennan-Thomas had confirmed for him that Kit O'Brady, Michelle Webster, and Grace Chandel had all perished within the last week. Their deaths were confirmed.

Added to the previous totals of the last six months... that meant there were now fewer than fifty immortals left alive. One of them was Duncan MacLeod. At least... the Watchers assumed MacLeod was still living... he'd vanished last year and no one had yet located him.

The Council had asked Joe periodically if he'd heard from him... Joe could truthfully say he hadn't. He could say the same about Amanda... or about Methos. Both of them had also vanished from the Watcher radar. Where they were... no one was certain of.

"Perhaps that's how it should be," Joe murmured as he held the glass against his forehead and closed his eyes. Ever since he'd broken the rules and gotten to know first MacLeod, then Richie, Amanda, and Methos, things had spiraled out of control for the Watchers.

"The rules of millennia should re respected," the Council had told him. "We remain apart for good reason. If we let ourselves get involved... then we change their game."

"Maybe we should!" Joe had insisted.

"And open ourselves up for murder? We have had enough of that! There will be no further interference for good or ill... on pain of death!"

The Sanctuary project had been discontinued. Field agents had been re-called for intense re-training. In the process, a few immortals knowing about the Watchers, had managed to vanish. They had pulled up stakes and changed names, appearances, locations, livelihoods. Some were lost until found dead; a few had resurfaced over the past year or so. Whoever the Immortal was who was hunting... he apparently had a better sense of where and how to find the illusive hidden immortals than the far-flung Watcher network.

While Joe mourned the loss of Duncan MacLeod's friendship... it was the loss of Methos that most upset the Watchers. Five thousand years of living history was gone... _poof!_... as if it had never been. He was still out there somewhere... but no one knew exactly where. And no one knew where to begin looking. The Ancient One had managed to survive for five thousand years by hiding in plain sight. He could be anywhere. He could be anyone.

"Afternoon Boss!"

Joe glanced up as the young American college student he'd recently hired to help out about the place, Amber Conroy, came through the door.

Joe smiled. She was a breath of fresh air about the place. She'd come to France to study art at the _Sorbonne_. When she'd run short of money for living expenses she'd shown up here one evening when he happened to be short-handed. With a shake of her long honey-blonde hair she'd pitched in... taking orders... waiting on tables... even doing a turn behind the bar.

Once the rush was over... Joe had checked her I.D. to be certain she was old enough... and talked with her.

"My Da... ran a bar until he died a few years ago. He worked himself to death! 'Twas one of the best Irish pubs in Boston according to the reviewers. Hundreds turned out for his funeral."

"What about your mother?" Joe had asked.

"She died when I was a wee slip of a thing. I barely remember her. I was an only child. I helped my Da out when things were busy. Anyway... after he died... I sold the bar and came here to study. Trouble is... the money didn't go quite as far as I thought it should." Amber had shrugged. "I'm actually looking for a job."

"And you've found one!" Joe had grinned his toothy smile at her. The girl knew her way about a bar... no question about it. And he did some extra help. He was getting older and slower. On some days... Joe had been finding it hard to even attach the prostheses he used as legs. He found himself just sitting in the wheelchair... wondering what the hell had happened to his life.

But Amber's presence five nights a week had brought a glimmer of light back into his life. Joe truly enjoyed watching the girl. She could speak fluent French... and then turn around and put on the most charming Irish brogue that had even the most belligerent customers wrapped about her finger. Amber Conroy almost made him feel young again.

Claudia Jardine had been one of the Highlander's protégés. She was a gifted pianist... and unfortunately... she was also an immortal.

"Thought I'd do that stockroom inventory for you this afternoon unless you had something else for me to work on," Amber laughed. Her honey-blonde hair was caught up in a ponytail and her blue-gray eyes flashed as she grinned at him.

"Inventory sounds great... just don't wear yourself out... Fridays are our big night around here!" Joe called out to her as she headed for the back... her ponytail bouncing with her walk.

Amber tossed him a little wave as she vanished into the stockroom.

Joe sipped at the scotch slowly... appreciating the rich peat flavor of the whiskey. He'd always been more a bourbon man himself... but in his time as Duncan MacLeod's friend... he'd come to enjoy fine scotch whiskey... neat.

A shadow fell over him. Joe looked up at the shadowy figure leaning against the doorway of _Le Blues Bar_.

"Hello, Joe!"

"Mac! Where the hell have you been?" Joe gestured for Duncan to join him.

"Needed to take some time to figure some things out. You know how it is... " Duncan settled smoothly into the other chair across from Joe and leaned forward to pick up the bottle. "You know what they say about drinking alone?"

"Leads to an early grave?" Joe arched his eyebrows in amusement.

"No... but it's lonely." Duncan screwed the cap off and took a long drink... Then he closed his eyes as he seemed to think about when and where the scotch had been bottled and where he'd been at the time. His eyes snapped open. "Sorry... something I evidently picked up from Connor." Duncan set the bottle down and leaned soberly back in his chair.

"I'm so sorry about that Mac!" Joe offered in all sincerity.

Duncan gave him the barest glimpse of a smile, then nodded. "Thanks, Joe... I..." Duncan's voice trailed off as Amber entered carrying a case of bottles.

"Thought I'd re-stock what we were short of" she said. "Oh... hi!" Amber flashed a warm smile at Duncan.

The Highlander shifted in his chair and watched the tall young woman expertly pull the bottles out of the crate and place them on the shelves behind the bar.

"That's Amber... she works here." Joe said.

Duncan nodded. "Nice... very nice."

Joe's office phone began ringing.

"Shall I get that for you, Boss?" amber offered.

"Naw... I got it." Joe maneuvered to his feet, grasped his cane and made his way into the office, shutting the door behind him. If it was the office phone... it was likely Watcher business.

Amber shrugged and continued stocking the bar. Duncan watched her for a moment and then crossed to the bar... the scotch bottle in his hand. "Might I have a glass?" he asked.

Amber looked at him and then nodded, handing him a glass.

"Does he know you're Immortal?" the Highlander asked.

Amber's eyes narrowed and she glanced back at Joe's closed office door. A flicker of a smile crossed her face. "I don't think so... why would he."

"Because he knows about me. I'm Duncan MacLeod."

The girl's eyes widened at the mention of his name... as if she knew who he was. "Amber Conroy... at least for now. Are you challenging me?"

"Nope... Just want you to know he's my friend... I don't want him in the middle of any unpleasantness."

"That makes two of us." Amber shifted slightly as she glanced once more at Joe's closed door.

"So why are you here?" Duncan pushed.

"He offered me a job. I needed a job." Amber shrugged. "Is there any reason besides that he is your friend that I shouldn't be here."

Duncan considered things for a minute. "Nope." He took a drink of his scotch. It was likely not a good idea to tell some immortal he had just met about the Watchers. Joe likely knew the truth about her anyway... but had not let on to the girl... Either way, Duncan saw no reason to become involved.

Joe's door opened. His face was ashen.

Duncan set his drink down. "Bad news?"

"Boss? What happened?"

Joe glanced at them both. Carefully he responded, "John Kirin's dead," he said to Duncan. Glancing at Amber he added, "A mutual friend."

Amber muttered condolences, then picked up the empty crate as she returned to the storeroom. She shot Duncan a sharp glance as she left.

Joe settled onto a barstool next to Duncan. "We need to talk."

"About Kirin?"

"About all the immortals who've died in the past six months."

"The Gathering is happening, Joe. We've known this for almost the last twenty years... ever since Connor took care of the Kurgan. The time of the Gathering is at hand."

"But someone is systematically killing immortals and no Watcher has seen the battles."

"Perhaps no Watcher should," Duncan sipped once more at his scotch. The light-hearted feeling he'd had in coming to see his old friend had vanished. Reminders of the Gathering made him realize that all too many of the immortals he called "friend" were being lost to him over time. If this were the final Gathering... he would lose them all... and then the mortal friends he had would be next, lost to age or illness. "Our lives are lived in the shadows, Joe. Perhaps no one should remember us."

"So what brings you to Paris?" Joe asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Just passing through. I haven't been called or pulled anywhere... I'm just on may to London. Claudia is playing a concert there and I thought I'd take it in." Duncan shrugged as if it were nothing. Claudia Jardine had been one of the Highlander's protégés. She was a gifted pianist... and unfortunately... she was also an immortal.

A sound from the storeroom made Duncan pause. "About your employee..." he began.

"Isn't she something?" Joe grinned, His crooked teeth flashed in the light.

"You do know she's immortal?"

The expression on Joe's face turned wistful. "Yeah... but I figured... since we'd lost so many of you guys in the past few years... maybe if I gave her a job here... she'd stay put a while... where one us could keep an eye on her."

"Who was she?"

"In her first life she was Kathleen Conroy of Boston. Raised by Irish immigrants. A minor player in the game... well-trained. She's taken a few over the years... but she doesn't usually start trouble."

"Who trained her?"

"Funny you should mention that..." Joe lowered his shaking head and sighed... letting out a great breath. "She was one of Connor's students."

"He never mentioned her."

"Well... I think she was one of his 'shining stars'... the ones he hoped might survive if the Gathering was only a legend that never came to be."

"Are you gonna tell her you know?" Duncan asked.

Joe glanced at him... a thoughtful expression crossed his face. "Is there any reason I should?"

Duncan shook his head.

Behind them, Amber Kathleen Conroy carried in a second crate, flashed the men another smile and began stocking the bar once more. Both could hear the lilting strains of some bit of Irish melody about her as she sang under her breath.

Joe motioned for Duncan to join him once more at a table. As the two settled, he quietly filled Duncan in on the recent deaths. "We don't know who is doing it Mac... that's the scary part. But in the last few months... someone has been systematically wiping out many of the lesser immortals... It's not just Kirin who's dead, but also Benny Carbassa, Willie Kingsley, as well as many of those who were never much of a threat. Yesterday I got confirmation about Grace Chandel."

Joe waited while a shadow of remembrance flashed across Duncan's solemn face. "Grace," he whispered sadly. Duncan lowered his head and was silent. He'd known the quiet and unassuming immortal for several hundred years. They'd been lovers once... and had remained friends.

"Sorry Mac," offered the Watcher.

Duncan remained quietly thoughtful then stood quickly. "All the more reason I get to London. Claudia will be an easy target."

"Yeah... she would be," Joe nodded, aware that the headstrong young pianist refused to carry a sword. "Good luck, Mac... and watch your head."

Duncan MacLeod flashed his friend a smile and left.

Behind the bar... Amber Conroy watched the Highlander leave and wondered what the hurry had been. She'd actually wanted to have a talk with him about Connor. Well... perhaps they'd have another chance. Meanwhile... she flashed a smile at Joe Dawson. She found him endearing, and in many ways he reminded her of her Da, dead for almost two centuries. Moreover, MacLeod's comments had made her curious about Joe. If he knew the truth about MacLeod and about immortals, what else did he know? She wondered how he'd react if she told him about her own immortality. She'd already been considering it... and now that MacLeod had happened in, she was tempted. She surely was.


	4. Chapter Four

When Amanda felt the immortal presence in the nightclub for the third night running... a presence that did not seek her out or attempt to locate her... she began to get curious. Slowly... the immortal thief would circulate about the club... attempting to get a bead on the mysterious immortal. But, as with any shifting mass of people, the situation kept changing. No matter where Amanda thought the other one was... by the time she got to that portion of the dance floor... whoever it was... had vanished... or moved on. It was as if it were a game... some silly child's game.

Just as she was giving up for another evening... just as she was ready to declare that either she was imagining things... or that the other immortal was stalking and teasing her with his presence... Amanda came face to face with a nice-looking young man who grasped his head in pain and shook it as if trying to clear it of whatever was bothering him.

Amanda paused.

The young man glanced up at her with a grimace... his drink sloshed in his glass as he shuddered. "Sorry about that... Been having the weirdest headaches lately." He steadied his glass, took a deep breath, and made to move past her.

"Head injury?" Amanda asked.

The young man turned back, still obviously feeling her closeness and attempting to somehow blink away whatever he was feeling. "I'm sorry... did you say something?"

"Have you recently been in an accident? Sustained a head injury?"

The young man nodded warily. "Yeah... I was hit by a car, a few weeks ago... knocked unconscious... but I was fine. How did you know?"

"Call it a wild guess!" Amanda purred as she took his arm and maneuvered him to an out-of-the-way table against the far wall. "Consider this a _professional_ courtesy."

"Oh gee... you're not a _pro_ like that other one the other night are you?"

Amanda slid into a seat and glanced up at the still-standing new immortal. "The _other_ one?"

"Yeah!" He sat down next to her and shook his head... then glanced at her, shrugging his shoulders sheepishly. "A real wildcat! Practically attacked me here in the club. Really wanted a piece of me for some reason. I left with her..." He blew out a puff of air and then gulped his drink down. "Let's just say she was a little more than I bargained for."

Amanda smiled. "I'm not a _pro_ as you put it... But I may be able to tell you why you have a headache right now... and more importantly, why you survived that auto accident without a scratch." Amanda lifted one slender hand and held it out in greeting. "My name's Amanda."

"Robert Sutton," the young man replied and gently grasped her proffered hand, shaking it slightly. "So... why do I keep having these headaches."

Amanda smiled at the unassuming young man before her. For a moment... when she'd first seen him... she'd felt more power from him than normal... as if he were older... with several kills beneath his belt. Now, as she regarded him, he felt only like a very new and very green immortal... one not yet even aware of what had happened to him. His thick brown hair hung to his shoulders... brown eyes... so like MacLeod's looked out at her from a full found and nicely proportioned face... straight aquiline nose... full sensuous lips... clean-shaven. He was nicely built as well. Amanda lay one hand on a well-muscled shoulder and asked, "Do you work out?"

"Yeah... some _karate_ and _judo_... Why?"

"Oh... nothing," Amanda murmured, thinking these skills might come in handy. Already she was planning a training program for the young man.

"So... about these headaches? Are you a doctor?"

Amanda laughed, "No... sorry... I'm just not the healing type... I tend to be a very selfish person... I look after myself first... always have."

"So why should I listen to anything you have to say?"

"Because, dear boy... you and I are more alike than you can imagine. You died in that car crash."

"If I'd died... I'd be dead... not sitting in a nightclub talking to a beautiful woman."

Amanda nodded her appreciation of his compliment. "I said you died... not that you were dead. I know... I died almost twelve hundred years ago... and I'm still alive."

Robert Sutton chuckled. "That's a good line. Next you be telling me you know Santa Clause."

"No... but I did know Richard, the Lionheart." Amanda waited for the enormity of what she was saying to sink in.

The young newly immortal man threw back his head and laughed aloud, his shoulders shaking from his laughter. Finally he stopped and looked her over with amusement. "I think I'll leave on that note. I really don't like dealing with anyone more insane than me." He polished off his drink and stood to leave.

"If you ever decide you want to believe me... and find out more about who you are... what you are... how to survive... look me up. I'll be here."

Robert looked at her solemnly for a long moment and then nodded with a grin. He pointed a finger at her, "Right... catch you later. Call you!" He held his hand to his ear as if it were a telephone, the thumb and pinkie finger extended... the rest curled claw-like into his palm.

Once again... Amanda had a brief sense of someone older... someone far more powerful... then... as before... there was only young Robert Sutton. He ginned at her... as if he were some predator pulling her in. Then he shrugged and turned... walking away.

Amanda discovered she was intrigued. There was definitely more to this young immortal, than was immediately apparent! Perhaps she should keep a cautious eye on him. She watched him leave the club... then gathered her own things to follow him. She needed to know more about him... where he lived... what kind of person he was... who his friends were... before she made the next more. And she wanted to find out more about the _pro_ he'd left with the other night. 

***

Kenny stared at the illusory face of Robert Sutton in the mirror of the men's room at the next club. Amanda was following him and he needed to lose her. "You nearly blew it with that crack!" he snarled... directing his hatred toward Kell. For a moment the illusion of Jacob Kell flitted across the features of Robert Sutton. Kenny glanced about in the men's bathroom... anxious in case anyone had noticed. No one had. One man glanced over at him and smirked as if Kenny were crazy for talking to himself in the mirror.

"Gave some gal the wrong line... did you?" the man chuckled.

Kenny narrowed his eyes. He glared at the drunk mortal now lounging against the stall door with a smirk. Within his short jacket was a knife... all he dared carry for right now. The boyman contiued to glare at the drunk. "What are you looking at?" he snarled.

"Just another fool!" the mortal stood up straight... clapped him on the shoulder... then walked out.

Behind him in the men's room... Kenny altered his appearance slightly, and masked his presence so that Amanda would not realize it was him as he passed her, and followed. As the other man left the club... Kenny followed him.

Fog drifted about the London streets in the midnight hour... cold white wispy fog that slowly obscured everything.

Kenny followed the laughing man and his friends. When his target peeled off to head for his own apartment, Kenny sped up. Quickly and with very little wasted movement of effort... he rammed the sharp knife into the man's kidneys again and again. Then he pushed him against a wall.

"Laugh at me will you... I do not like being laughed at." Kenny drew the knife across the man's throat and watched him fall to the ground... dying in a pool of blood." Within him... Kurgan laughed... strangely satisfied.

Kenny leaned over and wiped his knife on the dead man's clothes, kicked the body then walked off... once more slightly changing his appearance as he did so. He'd give it three or four days before he looked up Amanda again... he'd seen the suspicion in her eyes. The ones within had to understand that they needed to follow his lead on this seduction. Despite his relative youth... he knew Amanda best. He knew the things that appealed to her... the things that interested her... and the things that made her suspicious. If he was to have her... get her to want him... kiss him... even in illusion... they needed to let him be in control.

Meanwhile... he had other fish to fry... so to speak.

***

Claudia Jardine shuffled through the music for her concert and glared at the piano tuner who was taking far too long with this simple adjustment. She wanted to practice... and the fool kept tinkering with the tuning. The others of her entourage had left for lunch... and still this fool was tinkering.

"Are you even a competent tuner?" Claudia bleated at him. "Are you certain you even know what you are doing?"

"The man looked up at her, "You do want it perfect don't you, miss. I have perfect pitch... Trust me... This will be perfect... your concert will be memorable!"

Claudia paced about the stage... moving one hand back and forth as she read the music and heard her playing it within her mind.

Finally the tuner was finished. He bowed at her and gestured for her to give it a try.

Claudia let her fingers play up and down the keys... running patterns of memorized music that she used for warm-ups. She smiled. "It is perfect!" She took a seat on the bench and began to play... squealing in delight. "Maybe I should hire you for all my concerts!"

"Now that would be most interesting," the man behind her murmured. Unseen... his form shimmered until his face darkened and he leered at her with obvious desire. He looked about to be absolutely certain they were alone in the auditorium. 

Satisfied... the man reached forward... as if caressing her hair... his tongue darted in and out of his mouth as he shifted in delight. Then he slipped his arms about her and felt her form beneath his fingers.

Startled... Claudia turned on the bench... her eyes widened as she pushed at him. "Hey!" 

He grasped her head and kissed her... hard... his tongue darting into her mouth, invading her. His hands held her struggling body as she continued to push at him. He pulled back and grinned.

"Who are you?" Claudia asked. "Where did you come from?" For a moment instead of fear or anger... Claudia was intrigued by the black man hovering over her... looking at her with such open desire. His fingers trailing over her lips inflamed her for some reason. He smiled... then drew out a sword.

"Didn't feel me... did you... little girl? Too bad we don't have more time... you'd be so nice to play with... but MacLeod's on his way."

Claudia opened her mouth to scream... and felt the sharp edge of the sword slice through her neck.

***

Duncan MacLeod felt the quickening explode even as he pushed through the heavy glass doors and entered the lobby of the concert hall. Pushing past a crowd of people milling about in the lobby he threw open the auditorium doors even as the quickening faded away. On the stage he saw a body... Claudia's body. Near it was her severed head. About the stage he could smell the ozone from the exploded lights. Duncan closed his eyes and backed away. Around him curious workers began to enter... Duncan knew he had to leave... he couldn't be here... not now.

Tears blinding him... he stumbled through those forcing their way in and soon he was out once more in the lobby. He was too late! They were dying... all his friends were dying! It was as if someone was targeting the immortals whom he'd befriended over the years... the ones whose heads he could have taken if he'd been so inclined... his students... his lovers... those he cared about.

Already sirens were approaching. Duncan did not wish to be interviewed... nor explain how it was that he was carrying a sword. He slipped out of the concert hall's side door and was returning to his car when he sensed another.

Looking about... he saw a woman... one who looked amazingly like Grace Chandel smile at him warmly from across the street. She thrust her hands into the pockets of her long coat and slowly turned to walk up the street.

"Grace?" Stunned, Duncan followed... crossing through the traffic. By the time he reached the other side... the woman had apparently vanished. He raced up the street... grabbing at several pedestrians... but he did not see her... did not feel her. It was as if she had been only a ghost... some vagrant memory... a chance illusion of a life that might have been.


	5. Chapter Five

***5***

When Amanda felt the slight presence of an immortal... she glanced around warily. She'd been bargain hunting at a street fair... looking for just that right piece of art that would go with her new flat.

Not far away looked a very chagrined Robert Sutton. His hands were stuffed into his pants pockets and his lightweight khaki jacket blew lightly in the wind. He gazed at her as if afraid to even bother her.

Amanda smiled. Such a shy young man! She sauntered over to stand beside him... gazing around at the exhibits.

"Decided to look me up?" she purred, giving her sunglasses an imaginary adjustment on the bridge of her nose.

"Actually... I just saw you here and thought... well... thought that... maybe..." Robert let out a deep breath. "I though maybe I might be ready to listen to what you had to say."

"And why is that?" Amanda shifted her posture to show her benevolence in allowing him to court her favor.

"You know that _pro_ I mentioned?" Sutton finally said.

"Hmmmm!?!"

"She was found floating in the Thames yesterday. She'd been there about a week the paper said."

"And?" Amanda was intrigued.

"The police arrived on my doorstep since she was last seen attacking me at the club."

"Did you kill her?" Amanda clasped her hands behind her and walked around him.

"Me? Why should I kill her?" Sutton sputtered.

"I don't know Robert... why should you kill her?" Amanda's voice betrayed none of its normally teasing tone. It was flat... direct.

"I told you... she was a little more than I could handle. But I'm not really into strangling women."

"So why come to me?" Amanda had checked out Robert Sutton in the past few days and knew that he was a shoe salesman, who had indeed been in an accident a month ago... That he'd attributed his "not being injured" to "clean living" and a "clear conscience"... that he was a quiet young man whose life was about to change. She'd found nothing to indicate he knew anything about immortals... other than what she had already told him... or about the game.

"You said when I was ready to listen..." his voice trailed off as he shrugged sheepishly.

"Oh... and what makes you think I am not crazy?" Amanda peered into his brown eyes... eyes she could almost get lost in. She blinked to be certain she was still in control of the situation.

"I had another accident." Robert looked at her warily... as though he was afraid to explain what had happened.

"And?" Amanda waited.

Robert looked around to see if anyone was listening... then leaned in close to her... his voice barely registering. "I cut my hand while cutting up chicken for dinner last night. I sliced my hand right open... blood everywhere... and then..." Robert held up his hand and turned it over to show there was nothing wrong.

"You healed." Amanda crossed her arms before her chest and tapped her right foot. A small smile played at the corners of her mouth.

"Yeah!" Robert's outstretched hand found its way to his head where the fingers ran through his long brown hair several times. "I healed... really fast. I don't know what is going on... but you said you could explain."

Amanda sighed as her smiled widened... she could explain all right. She ran her arm through his and clasped it. "Let's take a walk Robert... a nice long walk... There is so very much for you to listen to and learn... and by the way... Have you ever had sword training?"

***

Duncan signed the final papers, which arranged for Claudia's body to be shipped back to the states for burial. He had long ago promised her that if it came to it, he'd make certain to have her buried in Seacouver. She'd grown up there... and while she had ended up being closer to him than to her foster parents... it was there she wanted to be buried.

"Promise me Duncan!" she'd begged him. "I'm not a player in this game. I live for my music. When someone comes for me... just promise me you'll take care of me then."

And so he had promised. Without her fear of death... Claudia's music deserted her. Without her music... she might as well be dead. He'd understood that about her years ago... and had accepted her choice for her immortal life... as part of the game. Some immortals were players... some weren't. Like Grace... Claudia was a gentle soul caught up in something she had no aptitude for... no desire for.

Watching the coffin being loaded on the airplane made Duncan consider some of the other immortals Joe had mentioned. Benny Carbassa was a two-bit hood and pain-in-the-ass whose inability with the sword was matched by his inability to talk his way out of anything. Willie Kingsley was a small-time conman. The death of his mortal wife a few years ago was likely his own death knell. Duncan figure Willie had just drifted after Mollie's death... and had simply waited for someone to strike that final blow. John Kirin...Kage... as Duncan had first known him... had been an arms dealer... warrior... and drug smuggler. He'd come face to face with his own shortcomings in the killing fields of Cambodia and had undergone some sort of religious or moral conversion. The last he'd seen him... Kirin was a traveling preacher... preaching brotherhood and love... and self-sacrifice. "I have no wish to die MacLeod... but if my death can heal another... so be it," Kirin had told him. Duncan had been able to understand such sentiments when expressed by Darius... but he'd had difficulty with hearing the same words from this man.

Michelle Webster had been a troubled teenager whom he had foisted off onto Amanda to train. Now Michelle was dead... she had not even lived a normal life-span. His old friend Kit O'Brady had been a fun-loving gambler. Duncan hoped he'd died with as much panache as which he'd lived his life. Even the troubled David Keogh had been hunted down and eliminated... as had one of Duncan's oldest friends... Warren Cochrane. Warren had been a shell of himself ever since he'd killed his own student a few years ago. When Duncan had killed Richie Ryan shortly after... he'd understood all too well the horror of killing someone who looked to you for help, for guidance, for training... someone who trusted you.

There had been others Joe had had said... but Duncan hadn't known them. All had one thing in common. They were minor players... they were not heavily into the game... their sword skills were erratic at best. And... many had been his friends. He... Duncan MacLeod... had failed them all. As surely as he had failed Richie or Tessa or Anne Lindsey or even Joe Dawson... he'd failed these people by not being able to protect them somehow. By not taking charge... by not being there and finding a way for them to survive.

Well... no more would die. Claudia would be the last! Duncan MacLeod watched the plane taxi off the tarmac and set his jaw. Whoever it was who had been killing immortals was now the target of a vengeful Duncan MacLeod. He'd already questioned Scotland Yard about Claudia's death and knew they suspected a piano tuner who had been the last to evidently see her alive. While he didn't have a name... Duncan did know something Scotland Yard did not. The man was likely not a piano tuner... and might have been either an immortal or a Hunter... one of the remnant of Watchers trained by James Horton over a decade ago to kill immortals. He'd gotten close enough to Claudia to surprise her... and Claudia carried no sword.

It was time to see who else was in the London area.

***

Lord Bernard Crimmons drew a deep and appreciative sniff of the bouquet of the fine wine. "Excellent vintage... my good man!" He sipped appreciatively... all the while waving away the hovering servants. He cast a suspicious eye over the mild-mannered and insignificant man who stood nearby with an oh-so-I'm-at-your-service Lord Crimmons air about him. "Now... To what exactly do I owe your benevolence in obtaining for me a crate of this wine."

The man nervously shifted his glasses above his nose as he nodded his head. His whiny voice and unassuming posture put Crimmons at ease. "I was told, your Lordship, that you had a taste for such things and that if a man could obtain the wine for you... he might... might I emphasize... be granted a favor." The man clutched his hat between his hands... fingering the brim.

Crimmons rose to stand by the window... gazing out at the London street scene. "A favor... I might grant a favor... depending on what it is." He sipped the wine and kept the tone of his voice a bit condescending.

"Many thanks your Lordship," the petitioner added. "I have but one small request. A little thing... so insignificant... I hesitate to even mention it."

"Yes," Lord Crimmons, once the axe-man of King Henry VIII, said. He heard the sound of metal behind him... rather like a sword being drawn. Curiously he turned in time to see it flash in the light of the fire burning in his fireplace.

"Your head!"

The sword met Lord Crimmons' neck and swiftly separated his head from his body. The fine wine spilled on the white carpet and the crystal wineglass shattered as it hit the floor. Then the quickening exploded the windows of his Chelsea apartment.

***

"Lift your right arm a bit higher... like this... and then swing down and to your left... letting the gravity and the blade do the work. Here... like this!" Amanda demonstrated the move twice more and then stood back to assess Robert Sutton's awkward technique.

He was coming along. She had wanted to increase his training to eight hours a day.

"I do have a job... a life!"

"You'll have nothing if you don't learn this," Amanda had countered. "The Gathering has begun. Immortals are dying. You may well not even have a normal life-span if you are not very careful."

Robert had pouted. "First you tell me I'm immortal and cannot die... then you tell me I'm going to die if I do not learn to kill... and kill only by beheading my opponents. You really are mad, you know."

Amanda had laughed. "Mad enough to have survived almost twelve hundred years."

"Still... I must maintain the fiction of my life... my old life."

In the end she relented and let him go... "But from now on... your evenings and weekends belong to me."

Robert bowed as he'd left, "Yes... my Lady!"

Truth be told... Amanda rather liked his mock-courtly manners. In so many ways... Robert Sutton reminded her of Duncan. But unlike Duncan MacLeod... this man actually needed her. Duncan needed no one. 

After he left... Amanda worked out at the gym for a while longer. Outside the early autumn evening turned to darkness. Swiftly she went through moves purloined from a thousand disciplines she'd learned... added to them her acrobatic skills... tumbling runs... and dance moves. He ability to move from one discipline to another with so little effort had made her a much more formidable opponent than most challengers she'd faced had ever thought she would be. "Be surprising!" Rebecca Horne, her teacher had once told her. "Be ever the surprise... Be anyone... do anything... But surprise them all!" Even a decade after Rebecca's death... Amanda still missed her old teacher.

When she felt the thrum of an immortal... a powerful one by its intensity... Amanda swiftly crossed the gym to her bag and withdrew her sword... holding it before her in both hands... balancing herself carefully on the balls of her feet so that she would be ready to move and move swiftly.

"Is that for me?" came the deep voice with the slightest hint of Scots heritage present in its cadence. 

Amanda lowered the sword and grinned, "Duncan... how nice to see you!" She walked slowly over to lightly kiss him on each cheek. He returned the gesture. "What brings you to London?"

"I came for Claudia's concert." the Highlander said sadly.

Amanda let the smile fade from her face. She'd never met Claudia Jardine... but Duncan had frequently talked her ear off about her, about her music and about her adamant refusal to carry a sword. "I heard... Duncan I'm so sorry... What can I do?"

Duncan held his hands before him and looked around the empty gym. "Tell me who's around London these days."

"Well... I haven't been here long... but Bernie is up in Chelsea."

"Then you haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

"His Lordship, Bernard Crimmons was found decapitated earlier today."

Amanda shook her head... evidently stunned. "He always had people about him... I didn't think anyone would get him. Lord knows he'd made enemies over the years... but he paid his servants very well. Who got him?"

"I was hoping you might know."

Amanda shook her head. "I've been involved with training my new student and haven't really paid much attention to the news or the telly. Duncan I have no idea who might have done it! Besides... Bernie and you were hardly friends... why do you care?"

"Because whoever killed Claudia may have also killed him... and may have killed Kit... and Michelle." Duncan's voice was barely above a whisper as he told her the names... He watched to see her reaction.

"Michelle? Duncan are you certain?" Amanda began to shiver. "My students... all my students... I fail them all. They die or they hate me..." She looked at Duncan and then stepped forward into his encircling embrace. "Am I such a bad person Duncan?"

"You hadn't heard... you didn't know," he murmured as he kissed her hair and trailed his fingers through it... wishing it were longer. But she liked it short... no fuss... no way for an opponent to use her hair against her.

Amanda pulled back, "And Kit? Who would kill Kit... besides me of course!" There was an edge of anger to her voice now that spoke volumes about how far she and the gambler had come from their initially adversarial relationship. Duncan found himself smiling at his memories of that.

"This student of yours," Duncan said. "I want to meet him."

"Robert? Oh he's harmless. He didn't even know what he was when I found him. And his skills!" Amanda threw her hands into the air. "He still has no real concept of how to use a sword. I don't think he'll ever be a player unless he learns to take the Game seriously!"

"I still want to meet him." Duncan insisted.

"He'll be here tomorrow after his job... He's a shoe salesman."

"Where?"

"A little shop at Leceister and Smythe," Amanda continued.

"Maybe I'll pay him a little visit tomorrow."

"Duncan... don't you dare terrorize that boy!" Amanda's pitch rose in indignation.

Duncan grinned. "Maybe a little terror is just what he needs."

Amanda nodded thoughtfully as she replaced her sword in its sheath and gathered her things. She ran one hand possessively into the crook of Duncan's arm and steered him out into the darkness. "True... a bit of fear might make Robert a little more diligent in his studies."


	6. Chapter Six

***6***

Amber Conroy ducked out of the rain now pelting the Paris streets as she entered _le Blues Bar_. She'd finished with her art classes early today and figured she'd just come on over and give Joe a hand with the place. In the past few weeks she had come to look forward to her time here more than she had many of the places she'd worked since becoming immortal almost two hundred years before.

Usually she moved from college to college... working at bars or cafes... something low tech and not requiring much in the way of I. D., nor commitment to remaining long. There was always a turnover in such places. Amber usually just became lost in that turnover... just one more pretty face and cheerful voice, who had worked there once and then moved on.

Even at the colleges she just showed up and unofficially audited the classes... That way there was no paperwork on her. She was just one more face in the class... one more student who might or might not finish the term... or turn in a paper. Amber Kathleen Conroy rather enjoyed her gypsy lifestyle. She knew Connor had set up a trust fund for her in case of emergency... but she'd yet to tap it. She sobered as she ran fingers through her damp hair and re-secured her pony-tail. Connor's death had played heavily on her mind for some time.

"Boss? Joe?" she called out... banishing her memories of Connor to the furthest reaches of her mind. He was dead and not all the memories in the world would ever give her one more moment with him. "Are you about Joseph?" Amber noticed the door to his office was open. She peeked in.

Joe's computer was on... but she did not see him. Entering she glanced around looking for him. Her eyes were suddenly drawn to the computer monitor and what she saw there. Amber leaned over the desk and stared at the photo as she read the information.

"I wish you hadn't seen that!" Joe's voice sounded from behind her. Amber straightened and turned to face him.

"You know about immortals? I mean besides MacLeod."

Joe leaned on his cane and then nodded abruptly. He crossed to his desk and sat down in the chair. Amber noticed the serious expression on his face.

"Then you know about me too?"

He glanced up at her... then down again as though afraid to meet her gaze.

Amber stared again at the monitor. "Are you worried about MacLeod? Do you think this boy is after him?"

Joe's mouth moved as if he wanted to say something and then thought better of it.

"Tell me! I'm not a child Joseph, despite appearances to the contrary." At that he met her gaze and then he sighed... shaking his head as he slowly rubbed one hand across his furrowed brow.

"I really shouldn't even talk to you now." Joe muttered.

"Whatever do you mean? I'm no threat to your friend... if that's what you're worried about. Connor always spoke highly of him. The Game is the Game... you do know about that... right?"

Joe nodded soberly.

"At any moment any of us might have to meet another and we may have no choice in it... friend or enemy. Connor told me it was a thing that would happen... It would draw us in and consume us. He always hoped that somehow what he'd been told was a lie... that we could stop it... That no matter how much the final combat called... we could turn our backs on it and just live our lives."

"I know," whispered Joe. "And that's what concerns me."

"Explain!" Amber crossed her arms over her chest and waited patiently... as if she were the adult awaiting the child to explain his actions.

Joe smiled weakly, "Have you ever heard of Watchers?" When she shook her head, Joe grimaced. How much should he tell her? How much could he omit? "Pull up a chair Amber... this might take a while," he finally said, knowing full well he was once more sliding along that slippery slope of what he as a Watcher should do... and what he as a friend had to do.

***

Duncan grinned and then shifted position. Amanda had begged him to spar with Robert Sutton, so he'd get the feel of a male opponent... a seasoned opponent. The young man was... as Amanda had said the other night... barely adequate... as if the moves and the strokes were somehow foreign to his nature. Duncan had the strangest feeling as he watched Sutton work out... that somehow it wasn't real.

Now Duncan lunged forward... steel crashing against steel. Once... twice... three times they traded blows. Duncan withdrew and held a moment... he knew his dark eyes almost glittered with his amusement. Sutton bent over and gulped air once more.

"Again," Duncan said and lunged once more.

This time Sutton hopped back as he attempted to parry Duncan's stroke with a one-handed maneuver that was more desperation than anything else he could do. Duncan's blade slid along Sutton's and then whipped up and about... sheering the sword from the young man's hands. End over end it flashed in the overhead lights. Duncan caught it with his free hand on the way down. Even now, his _katana_ lay against Sutton's exposed neck.

"All too easy!" Duncan said handing the boy his saber back as he lowered his _katana_ and stepped back.

"Easy for you to say... you've had what... centuries of practice? How am I supposed to compete with you?"

"You don't... not until you've been around a while." Duncan flexed the _katana_ and then held it up as he took a stance for another round. He wasn't even winded yet.

Sutton waved him off. "Go play with yourself MacLeod... I'm done in for the moment."

Amanda's eyes widened at the remark and she flinched at what she knew would happen next.

Duncan attacked with a cold fury that backed Sutton against the wall. The katana slid along the young man's arm at one point. Finally Sutton attempted to fight back. This time, when the _katana_ lay against his neck, Sutton blanched as the Highlander leaned in and snarled. "Once combat has been engaged... you can't call it off... you have to finish. In the end... only one of you will walk away. You need to get the point!"

"I got it... I got it... sheesh... You people take this so damned seriously!" Sutton rubbed his neck as Duncan walked away. There was no sign of any injury on his arm... almost as if there never had been.

Amanda tried to recall if there had been any blood at all. Finally she smiled and rose... there must have been... even if she hadn't seen it. "Enough for tonight Duncan... leave the boy alone. He still has a lot to learn before he'll be ready for a challenge."

"If he has the time to learn!" Duncan stated as he donned his long coat, carefully placing his sword within it.

Amanda cupped Robert's chin in her hands as she turned his face back and forth. "Well... no permanent injuries."

Robert shrugged her off and backed away. He was still breathing hard and his narrowed eyes glared at MacLeod. Sutton was seething with anger.

"Hey..." Amanda said to him as she touched his arm lightly. "Let it go Robert... In combat there is no place for anger. It will only blind you to what you need to do."

"You'd just let him take my head! You'd just stand by and let him kill me!" her student bleated... suddenly sounding more like a petulant child than a young man.

Amanda grabbed both his arms. "Now stop that! I won't let anyone kill you. Not anyone! You have to trust me Robert. Duncan was just trying to make you understand that this is not a game."

"But you call it the Game!" Robert ripped free of her, grabbing his coat and storming out.

"Let him go," Duncan said quietly as Amanda started to follow.

"Did you have to be so rough on him?"

"You know I did." 

Duncan's even tone made Amanda pause. She met his gaze and nodded. "I just don't want to fail him. I've failed so many."

Duncan laughed. "A very old immortal once told me... 'you cannot fight my battles'..." He smiled at Amanda's gentle laugh. "The same thing applies here Amanda. If he is to survive at all... he has to want to survive. Let him calm down. He'll be back."

***

Outside Kenny huddled in the shadows.

"Fool!" hissed Kell. "What did you think you were doing? You cannot meet the Highlander head on... it's too soon!"

"Oh but the holding back of our power to draw him in... make him overconfident... learn his moves... that was brilliant!" laughed the Kurgan... his voice echoing harshly in Kenny's mind.

Kane snickered, "The boy is not after MacLeod... not yet. You both miss the point of it all. He wants Amanda to come to him... Care for him... _Be_ with him."

Kenny smiled and nodded. Already she felt protective... soon... very soon... she'd want more than that. And then... Kenny grimaced lewdly at the thought of what he might be able to do then. Once he had her and her quickening... not even MacLeod would be able to stand against him. He'd have her moves... those acrobatic moves that were always such a surprise. And maybe... just maybe... in the moment and within the illusion... his child's body would be able to perform as he so wanted it to.

***

Amber stared out into the rain. Behind her she heard the slight tap of Joe Dawson's cane as he joined her at the window of _Le Blues Bar_.

"I know," Joe began, "it's a lot to take in all at once"

"Funny... I was thinking that would have been my line if you hadn't known and I told you what I was."

"Listen... I hired you here because you're good at your job... and you lighten the place up... not because I wanted to keep an eye on you... Like I said... I hadn't really filed a report on you yet."

Amber stared at him until he met her gaze. "So mortals have known about us for millennia and have simply Watched." She shook her honey-blonde head with a laugh. "Wouldn't Connor have found this amusing."

"He knew... he came to us to escape the Game after Rachel died... He just wanted to stop but he didn't want to die."

"But he died anyway. " she responded. Joe could hear a wistful tone in her voice.

"He wanted Duncan to survive. By giving his quickening to Duncan... he thought Duncan would be able to beat Kell... and then that something of him would remain."

"Something and someone to remember Heather on her birthday."

Joe nodded... not at all certain that Duncan did remember... but it seemed right.

"And now you think this boy... Kenny... is after MacLeod?"

Joe sighed, then nodded. "He's been sighted in the general area where the other immortals died... the ones we have no final information on as to who they met with... or which immortal killed them. Kenny has been in these areas without obvious reason and then moved on. He's the only common factor. There's bad blood between Mac and him. I think he's involved somehow."

"And you want MacLeod to know." Amber smiled.

Joe's gaze narrowed. He raised one hand and shook it back and forth. "No... I'm not letting you get involved. I'll find a way to get in touch with Mac on my own."

"Joseph Francis Dawson."

Joe laughed at the Irish lilt as she said his whole name... as his mother had often said it when he was in trouble for not saying his prayers or for teasing Mrs. O'Riley's cat... or for mocking Father Sheehan's stutter. "Yes ma'am!" he said with a grin.

"You get that paternal air out of your voice this moment. I've at least a hundred and fifty years on you. I do know how to take care of myself. Besides, Connor's ghost would be sure to haunt me if I knew something his kinsman needed to know and did not make the attempt to tell him. We Irish believe in ghosts you know."

Joe smirked as he nodded.

"Now then, boss... Will you be payin' my way to London?" Amber Kathleen Conroy tossed her head so that her hair brushed first one shoulder and then the other.

"Would you be flirting with me girl?" asked Joe suddenly wanting to laugh.

"Would you like me to?" Amber laughed as she took his arm and led him to the bar. "I have a desire for a whiskey after all this talk... Would you be joinin' me?" She slipped behind the bar and set two glasses on the surface... opening a bottle of Irish whiskey as she continued. "We have plans to make. Now just where do you think Duncan MacLeod will be in London, and just how might I find him?"


	7. Chapter Seven

***7***

Duncan had stayed away from both Robert Sutton and Amanda after that last sparring match that had ended so antagonistically. Duncan felt, instinctively, that Robert did not like him... was in fact jealous of him and his close relationship with Amanda. Right now... Amanda needed to concentrate on her young student. So Duncan had backed away.

Besides... the Highlander felt it necessary to spend time trying to find the immortal who was killing his friends. While he, personally, would not care if Robert Sutton were the next victim... Duncan knew that Amanda would care.

He sighed as he thought of her. Back and forth they'd gone for centuries. First one wanted more than the other could give... and then the roles were reversed. Sometimes he thought it was a lack of trust on both their parts that they were never able to make a final commitment to one another... that one or the other kept backing away... fearful of staying too long... of being too trusting.

The last time it had been Amanda who had run. Despite Duncan's wishes to the contrary... until they'd met up here... they really hadn't been together in years. And here... there was Robert Sutton.

The night he'd found her... and gone home with her... she'd talked his ear off about the boy. So Duncan had met him. Some part of the Highlander had wondered about and been suspicious of this young man. New immortals were very rare these days. But the young man's story had checked out. Still... Duncan worried about Robert's evident dislike of Duncan and the jealous look he'd given him when Amanda had teasingly kissed the Highlander the other night. Duncan had a feeling that it had been that kiss... more than the sparring match itself... that had upset the young man.

And still... Duncan had the oddest sensation about him... that he was not quite what he seemed. There were moments and movements and phrases Sutton used that for a moment made alarms go off in Duncan's mind... reminders of... who? Duncan shook his head. Obviously he was tired and getting way too suspicious. Right now he needed to concentrate on just whom else was around.

That Claudia's death had been accompanied by a quickening told Duncan that an immortal had to have been involved. But why would Claudia allow herself to be alone with an immortal? She had known better!

Duncan's pace slowed to a stop as he felt someone. Glancing around... almost expecting to see once more the phantom Grace Chandel... Duncan peered into the crowds milling along the street. Already the Highlander was preparing himself for battle...flexing and stretching... his fingers grasped the hilt of his _katana_ within his coat. Then he saw her. His eyes widened. Still cautious... Duncan carefully approached the figure of Amber Kathleen Conroy.

"Fancy seeing you here," he remarked... his voice betraying his belief that this was not a coincidence.

"I was looking for you," she replied.

Duncan spread his feet apart in an even stance as he stood before her... his hands clasped in front of him... the wind blowing his coat behind him. "This is a little bit public... wouldn't you prefer someplace a little more out of the way."

Amber grinned. "Oh... it's not a fight I'm lookin' for, Duncan MacLeod... though I can oblige if you be wantin' one. Your friend Joseph asked me to talk to you."

Duncan shook off a laugh. His face sobered and his words sounded harsh in the wind. "Prove it! Do you think I will drop my guard on your say-so?"

Amber's brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed. Gazing at him thoughtfully for a long moment... the young woman evidently made up her mind as to her next move. "I'm wantin' a drink and I think there's a pub on the corner. Join me or not... it matters not to me... but Joseph asked me to give you some information you might be wantin'."

Duncan watched as Amber pivoted and brushed past him on her way to the pub... a small dark and crowded alehouse. It was as safe as holy ground these days with so many mortals about. Then Duncan followed her. But he kept his fingers poised to grasp his _katana_ at a moment's notice.

***

"Why didn't Joe come... or contact me himself?" Duncan gave the waiter a few bills as he set their drinks on the table. Amber had ordered Irish whiskey neat... Duncan had scotch.

Amber waited for the waiter to leave. "He's bein' watched by those people he works for...Seems they don't much care for him bein' friends with the likes of us. So he couldn't come himself. Besides..." Amber downed her drink, "he thought I might be able to help."

"Help? How?" Duncan fingered his drink... but did not take a sip... still watching her warily.

Amber pulled out a cell phone and punched in a number. Her face lit up as the call was answered. "Boss... I've a suspicious man here who needs to talk with you." Amber handed the Scot the phone... then she excused herself to wander over to the bar

"Joe?" Duncan was relieved when he heard the Watcher's voice. The Highlander listened to his friend... all the while watching Amber by the bar... joking with another patron as she waited for another drink.

She returned with a drink in her hand only after Duncan had turned her cell phone off and laid it on the table. "Am I welcome here, then?" she asked... the Irish lilt in her voice even more pronounced.

Duncan gestured for her to take a seat. He sipped at his scotch thoughtfully. "Joe says he thinks Kenny's involved somehow... Do you know him?"

Amber shook her head. "I don't really hang around us... Connor always said it was not a wise idea... not if we wanted to keep our heads." When Duncan nodded with a pensive gaze, Amber continued. "I think he always envied you that ability to be friends with so many... that sense of trust you have. He was always such a loner."

The glass in Duncan's hand made a circular motion as he set it down and leaned forward. "Tell me about you and Connor."

Amber grinned. "He got drunk a few times in my Da's pub. Did he ever tell you about that duel he had on the Common... with Kastigir as his second?" When Duncan chuckled, she continued. "Well it started in my Da's. I think that's when he first noticed me... and stayed close just in case."

"So what happened?"

"Oh... I was takin' the receipts to the bank one mornin' and was jumped by thieves! Blow to the head!" Amber hit the side of her head with a laugh. "They'd dragged me into in alley before they hit me... then left me there. When I woke up..." Amber shrugged, "I didn't really feel any different... Course I was mortified to go back to the bar to tell my Da I'd been robbed." She laughed a moment. "Connor happened to be there. I'll never forget the pained expression on his face when I walked in. I think he'd hoped I'd live a full life without the Game and immortality finding me."

"So he told you what you were and taught you to fight." Duncan concluded her tale as he finished his scotch.

"Aye... that's the long and the short of it."

Duncan leaned back in his chair... eyeing her soberly. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Were you lovers?"

A wistful expression passed over Amber's face as she gazed at Duncan and then down into her drink. "Connor said it wouldn't be right. He was my teacher and it was better that there was nothing more between us. He told me that it wasn't safe to take an immortal lover... That while it's a hard thing to love a mortal and watch them grow old and die... 'tis a far worse thing to have to take the head of someone you love... someone you trust." Amber slowly picked up her whiskey and downed it in a single gulp... re-setting the glass on the table with a gentle _thump_. "That's not to say he wasn't fond of me... that we didn't remain friends... but you know how he was..."

Duncan nodded. He _did_ know how Connor had been. The man had been so afraid of having anyone love him... anyone care for him... that he'd built walls between himself and those that might have cared. He'd taught Duncan... but then pushed him away to learn on his own. Oh... he'd always greeted him warmly when their paths had crossed and taught him a few new moves... but other than a few drinking bouts over the years... and an adventure in common occasionally... Connor had traveled his own lonely road... and let Duncan travel his.

He was... as Amber Conroy was saying... a man afraid to let others care. Perhaps it had been that loneliness that had finally made him go first to the Watcher's Sanctuary... and then finally to force Duncan's unwilling hand in that final fight. The elder Highlander'd had few friends... and fewer loved ones. He'd been alone most of his life because it was how he'd wished it.

When he had let someone in... they'd died... horribly. Rachel's death had been the final straw. He'd raised her as a daughter... loved her briefly and then pushed her away... allowing her to remain only as a friend. But when she'd died... the last person on this earth he'd truly cared for... at least the last mortal... it had broken his heart.

Within his own heart... Duncan could feel Connor's sadness and despair. It had been creeping up some on him the past few years... ever since he'd defeated Kell after Connor's death. Kell had been haunting Connor's steps for almost five hundred years. He'd killed them all... one by one over the years... until Connor'd had no one in his life... no one he dared allow in. Amber likely lived only because he'd kept her at arm's length. Because... like Duncan... she was an immortal... a student of Connor MacLeod... the Highlander.

"Let's get out of here." Duncan finally said as he finished his drink. Rising... he headed out the door... sensing rather than seeing her follow him. Once on the street... Duncan glanced about at the gathering gloom and motioned to her to walk with him towards Hyde Park. He wanted to know how good she was... and there _was_ a way to find out. 

***

Their swords clashed... sparking in the darkness as they circled around one another on the wooded path in Hyde Park. Duncan had drawn on her suddenly and lunged... glad to see she had already expected it... was prepared.

Even as they fought... thrust... slice... riposte... lunge... turn... back away... lunge again... Duncan had recognized Connor's teaching in the young woman's moves. The little tells that Connor had used in his fighting, glimmered in some of Amber's motions as though they were reminders to Duncan of just whose student she had been.

They'd kept it up for some time when Duncan allowed himself to suddenly seem to make a mistake and he executed the final move Connor had taught him. Amber's face blanched. Evidently... she knew it too. She was caught and with a sudden shifting of sword... her head and her body would part company.

Swallowing fearfully... she bravely met Duncan's dark gaze. "Was that how you killed Connor?" she asked.

Duncan gazed back into her blue eyes and read the sadness there. With a growl he'd pulled back, out of the move and turned away. Behind him he sensed her relief.

"All right... you really are who you say you are," he said to her. "So what do we do now?"

Amber sheathed her blade within her coat... still rubbing her neck... already healing from the barest scratch he'd given her there. "Joseph's not certain how this Kenny is doing it. He's there... then he's not there. It's almost as if he vanishes... becomes someone else... someone we cannot feel. Then he gets close... especially to your friends... gets them alone... gets them to drop their guard... and then kills them."

"And then walks away unseen!" Duncan flexed his _katana_... wanting to strike out at something... anything... thinking of Claudia's death. He'd been so close... a moment sooner and he'd have seen it all. As it was... he'd seen only the last of the quickening arcing out... but not at him... not at Duncan... at someone who was closer... but out of sight.

"_Illusion!_"

Duncan's head snapped up. He could swear he heard Connor.

"_Heh... heh... heh... I once learned from the sorcerer Nakano... who had the gift of illusion! He offered it to me if I'd take his head. But I chose to have him as a teacher_," Connor had once told him... centuries ago... before he'd known that Kane was still alive... and would come after him. Kane had absorbed that mystical power of the Ancient. 

"_He looked like me... He appeared in places he wasn't. He looked like those I trusted. He made me see things that weren't there. I couldn't even feel his power... to know it was him_." Connor'd told him that tale one of the last times they had spoken.

"Did you get the power when you killed him?" Duncan had laughed... fully expecting Connor to suddenly vanish or become an eagle and fly away.

"_No..._" Connor had shaken his head. "_Maybe I never needed it... or maybe... it didn't need me._"

"Illusion!" Duncan murmured aloud to Amber.

"What?"

"Connor should have had Kane's power of illusion when he took his head... but he didn't. He never had it. What if it found another..." Duncan's voice trailed off as he considered the ramifications of what he was thinking. That if Kenny or some other immortal had been in the right place at the right time... he might have absorbed Kane's power somehow. No immortal ever got all of a quickening. Some of it always arced outward and spent itself in the lightning and the explosions... What if... that's what had happened? But if some immortal could appear as anyone... He could get close... he could make another trust him... drop her guard...

Swiftly hiding his _katana_ within his coat, Duncan headed out of Hyde Park double-time.

"You've a thought then?" Amber followed.

"Amanda has a new student... a very young and very inexperienced student," he threw out over his shoulder. "One she's dropped her guard around."

Duncan waved down a taxi and climbed in followed by a sober and very determined Amber. "Lead on MacDuff!" she grinned.

Duncan chuckled at the garbled Shakespeare. "I'm not certain that applies here... But come on girl... I've got a feeling the only way to truly defeat this immortal... may be for there to be two of us present."


	8. Chapter Eight

***8***

When she felt an immortal at her door... and thinking it had to be MacLeod... Amanda eagerly opened her door with a cheery expression. After the other night, Duncan had chosen not to return here. She had not seen him since, evidently feeling she needed and wanted to concentrate on Robert. He was right, of course, she did need to concentrate on Robert; but she truly hadn't meant to drive Duncan away.

But it wasn't Duncan.

"Robert? What are you doing here? How did you find where I lived?" Amanda had always carefully met Robert on neutral ground. She wasn't a fool and knew that any immortal knowing too much about her and her habits was a very bad idea.

"Don't be angry!" The young man's eyes pleaded for her patience and understanding. "I followed you one night... Just to be certain you were safe. I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"How... sweet!" Amanda let out a long breath... uncertain for the first time since finding Robert as to what her next move should be. She did not wish to invite him in... nor give him the wrong idea about how she felt. But neither did she wish to just send him away. In the end, Amanda stood aside and motioned him into her apartment. "I'm still decorating... it's not finished yet," she apologized as she closed the door behind her. "I don't even have any wine to offer." It was true. She'd spent most of her time clubbing and then training Robert... that fixing this place up... once something she had been eager to do... had fallen by the wayside.

"I didn't come for wine." Robert gazed at her with the saddest big brown eyes she thought she had ever seen. "I'm afraid to be with anyone right now... talk to anyone... I'm afraid I'll blurt everything out. I'm so lonely."

Amanda lay one hand on either side of Robert's face... and gave him her most sparkling look of sympathy. "I'm sorry... I suppose all of this is hard for you. I've been immortal so long... I sometimes forget what a shock it can be."

Robert nodded. He hung his head as he backed away slowly. "It's just... I'm not even certain anymore if I can really do normal things. I go to work and think--I shouldn't be here! I lunch with co-workers or friends and think--What would they say? How would they react if I told them? Amanda... I need to really talk with someone and you are the only person I can trust."

Amanda blushed with a smile. Self-conscious in Robert's adoring gaze, she crossed her arms over her chest and then reached up to curl a short wisp of her dark hair about her finger. She felt warm inside. It had been a long time since any man had looked at her with such an expression of utter devotion. "Robert..." she began, and then paused, obviously considering her next words carefully. "I'm truly touched... but..."

Robert's eyes glared a moment as he interrupted her. "But what? You're too old for me?"

"Well I am... but what I was going to say..."

"I'm _not_ a child!" As if this were somehow important... Robert reached forward and pulled Amanda into an embrace. He kissed her harshly... as if by somehow forcing the issue... she would respond to him.

Amanda struggled free... surprised at the desperation in that kiss and the tight hold he'd had on her arms... He'd bruised her... she was certain. "Look kid..." Amanda's tone was more harsh than she'd intended... but he'd startled her. "I want to make this clear. You're my student. I'll teach you how to survive... but that's as far as it goes."

"It's MacLeod... isn't it! You're hung up on MacLeod!"

"Duncan and I are very old friends. Anything else is not your business. Now I think you'd better leave!" Amanda backed toward the door... suddenly feeling that being alone with the young man in her apartment was not a good idea. She reached for the doorknob.

Robert lunged at her suddenly... pulling her towards him. Once more his hands groped her as his mouth sealed itself to hers... his tongue forcing its way between her teeth. Amanda bit down... hard.

Robert gave a startled cry and backed away. For a moment, Amanda saw blood on his mouth. Then his expression darkened. "That was a mistake," a gravely voice sounded.

Amanda backed away... now more than ever concerned about his presence here.

Robert lunged at the door... beating her to it and throwing the bolt. "Oh my," a clicking, hissing voice said, "locked in here with me. Whatever shall we do?"

Amanda glanced briefly at her sword lying atop her coat on the sofa. Then she focused her attention on Robert. "Well... I'm certain we could order champagne from the pub on the corner and think of... something," she teased and stood a little more provocatively as she smiled and batted her eyes. Anything to get closer to her sword. If he thought she might respond, perhaps he'd make a mistake. Obviously, Amanda had missed something about Robert Sutton, some mental defect that his new immortality had brought to a head, perhaps?

He stepped closer to her and sneered, one hand caressing her face and then traveling down her neck... pausing... before continuing along one breast. He squeezed, pinching her between his thumb and forefinger. "What makes you think you have anything to offer. You are a whore who sells herself to any man to survive."

Amanda's eyes widened at the bitterness of his voice. She smiled. "Well," Amanda said lightly and shifted slightly closer as her voice took on a teasing tone, "we do what we have to, in order to survive." Amanda raised one knee to connect solidly with his groin.

He flinched and reached down in pain.

Swiftly she pivoted, grasping her sword in her turn and continuing around so that she faced him once more... both her hands on the blade now leveled at Robert Sutton.

He threw back his head and laughed... a great, deep and mighty roar. "Oh I will so enjoy you!" Something shifted about him... he seemed taller... deadlier... more dangerous. In his hands the saber flashed as he struck.

Amanda parried the blade and moved back. Neither she nor Duncan had taught him that move. He crouched and began to circle... slowly to his left... and then feinted right before striking from the left once more.

Amanda met his stroke and swiftly countered with two more as she attempted to work him backwards. He retreated and then seemed to just move... faster than she'd thought possible off to her right. His saber raised in a killing stroke. Amanda ducked... grabbing a halogen floor lamp as she did so... and turning back to face him as the lamp crashed to a floor sending sparks up.

In the momentary glow of the sparks.... Amanda could swear she'd seen a startled Kenny. If only she could get to the door. For a moment she considered the windows... She could jump... but she'd had the grates on them fixed... it would take as long if not longer to undo a grate as it would to unbolt the door. She'd made this apartment safe from intruders... but she'd never considered that she might have made it impervious to her own quick escape.

Robert laughed and then lunged at her again. Amanda feinted to her right and then feinted once more further to the right... then struck to the left... feeling her blade slash deeply into his sword-arm. He laughed, and Amanda felt a blow on the side of her head. She retreated as she shook her head, realizing his arm was uninjured.

"Oh my pretty... you do play rough! Too bad we never had the chance to meet... You might have proven interesting for a night... or maybe two!" The deep rough voice had returned.

"We could have been so good together, Amanda! All you had to do was love me!" Robert's voice now sounded once more like an angry child who'd been denied a treat.

"I bet you give it up for MacLeod," the voice now hissed.

Amanda gulped in air and steadied her sword in both her hands. However he was doing this... however he was being there and not there... he still had to be there... in the middle... or maybe... Amanda heard a breath on her right... not much... just a small whistle of air. She didn't dare close her eyes as she circled... but she concentrated on the low whistle... the almost imperceptible feel of warm breath... just... to her right... close... as if ready to blow in her ear. Amanda shifted the sword in her hands, striking suddenly towards the air on her right.

"Damn!" He was bent over and pulling away from her blade as he glared at her. "That hurt." It was the mocking, bitter voice.

Amanda tried to rain down blows on him before he could recover... but she was no longer certain if the Robert she saw was there. Was she fighting only a phantom while the real Robert Sutton was off to one side recovering?

Amanda backed away... from the Robert before her... once more listening for any tell-tale breathing or noise that might indicate he was somewhere else... somewhere closer. Outside... she could feel another immortal arriving. Reinforcements? Or MacLeod? A footstep sounded to her left. Amanda turned... letting gravity do the work and sliced down on what she hoped was his neck. She could feel the sword's resistance as it passed through something and then heard something fall.

He laughed! Amanda turned. "Gotcha!" he said... no longer looking anything like Robert Sutton. Amanda's eyes widened as she felt his blade enter her chest. On the far side of the door... she could hear MacLeod's voice calling, "Amanda!"

Robert or whoever he was pulled the sword from her chest. Amanda wavered... tasting blood. One hand caressed her face. "You should have loved me Amanda... just once... just once." For a moment Amanda saw Kenny's blue-gray eyes peering at her through his shaggy blonde hair. "We could have been so good together." he kissed her... softly... sadly.

Amanda pulled away, struggling to stay on her feet. The pain and the darkness were both rising. She could hear MacLeod crashing on the door... trying to break in. For a moment Amanda looked sadly at her former student... not certain if this was truly him... She lifted her sword... only to see it sheared away by Kenny's stroke. It clattered to the floor.

Amanda could hear wood splintering. She closed her eyes and fell towards the image of Kenny... surprised that she actually felt him attempt to hold her up as she fell... "_Always be a surprise!_" Rebecca had told her. Well... this had to be a surprise as Amanda tried to reach out around Kenny and hug him tightly to her as she fell, forcing him to the floor beneath her.

***

Angrily Duncan pounded on Amanda's door. Beside him... Amber began hacking at the wood with a throwing ax she'd pulled from her coat.

Duncan grabbed it from her and with his greater strength began to make progress as the wood splintered.

From down the stairs... another tenant was calling up at them... something about calling the police. Duncan screamed Amanda's name once more... fearful that as with Claudia... he was too late.

As the door gave way before his impassioned assault, Duncan forced himself through the door, followed by Amber.

He saw Amanda's huddled form on the floor... Cautiously he looked around... certain someone else had to be here. "He's still here Amber... be on guard!" Duncan called out... pivoting left and right... glad to see the girl doing the same. He reached down toward Amanda. She was dead... but still intact. Carefully he performed a series of moves above her... making certain no sword could reach her.

Amber nodded... catching his eye. She stepped closer to Amanda's body and began the same moves... allowing Duncan to turn his attention to the rest of the room. He kept Amber at his back as he raised his _katana_ above his head... waiting.

Something shifted in the light... then he heard footsteps heading down the stairs. "He's on the move! Stay here! Take care of Amanda!" Duncan launched himself through the splintered door and down the stairs.

Amber watched him go... then relaxed her stance over Amanda.

"_In the end... there can be only one!_" she seemed to hear Connor telling her as he had done so, long ago. "_It's not wrong to take advantage of an opponent's weakness or momentary failure. Use them to insure your own survival!_"

Amber shifted her blade in her hands and sighed. "I rather think I like Duncan's view of immortal friends more than yours Connor. I think I'll pass on the moment... even if someday she comes for me... I think I'll pass." Amber knelt next to Amanda's body. Laying her sword on the floor... she pulled the immortal into her lap and waited. Already she could sense Amanda's imminent return.

Amber gazed out through the splintered door... hoping the Highlander would be able to find and finish his elusive immortal quarry.


	9. Chapter 9

***9***

As he ran from the building, Kenny seethed. "Damn MacLeod! Why does he always interfere! Only a few moments longer and Amanda would have been his. But with the Highlander's entrance into his teacher's apartment... Kenny had not dared take her head... It would have unmasked him... and it would have made him vulnerable.

It had only been chance that he'd been hidden from the Highlander's sight when MacLeod had entered the concert hall moments after the boy had taken the simpering Claudia's head. The silly thing hadn't even had a sword and her quickening had been pathetic... hardly worth the energy he'd used in getting close to her. But he'd wanted her so that her death would upset MacLeod... and it had. As had his using the Grace persona outside the hall. Just one more way to rub it in and keep the Scot off-balance.

But this! He'd used a lot of energy on Amanda... on keeping up the illusion of Robert Sutton... so that he'd seemed real... even to Amanda's touch. And now... he had nothing to show for it. He was tired... and edgy... and unable to use illusion again for a while.

Worst of all... he could see MacLeod issue forth from the apartment building... and look around for him. Kenny turned and ran. He was too close... he couldn't mask his presence right now... he needed time to regain his strength... time to marshal his forces once again... time to unify the discordant spirits within so that he could truly face the Highlander as an immortal to be reckoned with.

"Foolish boy!" hissed Kane. "You should have taken her head instead of kissing her!"

"Once she pulled away," Kell intoned in that bitter voice he had whenever the subject of women and sex came up, "that should have been that. You dropped your focus... you wasted our energy... you missed the moment." Kenny shivered even as he ran through the night... there was always something truly perverted about Kell's views of women. At least with the other two... Kenny had some understanding of what it meant to take a woman and enjoy her. With Kell he only felt an abhorrent sense of disgust.

"Leave me be!" he yelled at them, even as he ducked into a darkened alleyway, hoping he'd lost MacLeod. 

The Kurgan's laugh rose like a banshee howling on the wind. "The Highlander will be ours. Stop running. Concentrate!"

"Yes..." Slippery as a snake Kane's voice slithered in. "for this we chose you. For this we have pooled all we are... all that remains."

Kenny paused... his back pressed against the wall. His mind was still unordered... as if the strength it took to maintain the illusion had left him splintered now that he wasn't using it.

"Sutton does us no good now. Forget him." Kell intoned. "We need someone else... someone the Highlander cares for."

"He cares for Amanda!" The hate in Kenny was rising to a fevered pitch. How could she love him? Why hadn't she loved him... or even Robert? He'd played it so well! What had he done wrong? "You made me move too soon!" He cast his accusation at them all. "We should have waited! I should have waited!"

At the entrance to the alley... Kenny could feel the first stirrings of an on-coming presence. MacLeod! Kenny looked down the alley... knowing the river was near. If he could get to the Thames... not all would be lost.

The boy focused... pulling all the arguing voices into one thought... _Mask our presence!_ It was all he could manage for the moment. Once he was certain it was done... Kenny stood and walked slowly through the alley toward the other end... toward the river.

***

Amanda gasped and lurched upward. She was still alive! Feeling an immortal she glanced around... expecting that somehow Duncan had saved the day... Duncan was here... Duncan had killed Robert.

Instead she saw a rather pretty young woman she did not know. Fear rose. Was this another face? Or was this the truth beneath the other? Amanda scrambled away... pain still tearing through her chest.

"It's all right, Amanda. Duncan went after him... he asked me to stay till you were back."

Amanda managed to rise into a crouch... her eyes darted about the room until she saw her sword a few feet away. She drew a breath. "Who are you?"

"Name's Amber Kathleen Conroy... You have no reason to trust me right now... but if you care for MacLeod... we need to try and follow where he's chased young Kenny too.

"Kenny?" Amanda was confused. She did recall seeing Kenny twice during that fight... but... Kenny? She shook her head.

"MacLeod believes that the boy has managed to learn or somehow absorb the power of illusion... one of the gifts of the old ones."

Amanda shifted toward her sword... noticing that Amber made no move. The young woman's sword lay easily on her arm... ready... but not threatening.

"I don't quite understand... How did Kenny get it?" Amanda's hand tightened on the hilt of her sword. She lifted it.

"Don't know. Maybe we'll never know. Connor should have had it... but he didn't get it when he killed Kane many years ago."

"Connor? As in Connor MacLeod... Duncan's teacher?"

"Aye... and mine too." The girl nodded sadly. "Now if you feel like it. We best be on the move. Duncan thought it might take several of us bein' present to keep the illusion from working as it should. We couldn't see him when we broke in... but as soon as he moved to leave... Duncan saw him I think... or heard him."

Amanda nodded.... rising to pick up her coat and place her sword within it. Even as she did so... Amber did the same. Moments later they were on their way out of the building. From nearby they could hear the bleat of the police sirens.

"Great!" murmured Amanda. "I'll likely lose my lease on this place."

"Better a lease than your head!" replied Amber as they hurried up the street... trying to sense in which direction MacLeod had gone.

"You don't know what I paid for that place!" retorted Amanda. "If I get hold of that kid... I'm gonna kill him!"

***

Exiting the alleyway... Duncan peered carefully about him. He no longer felt the boy... certain now that it was Kenny he was chasing. Kenny tended to run for small, dark hiding places. He liked to be near water... as if realizing that in a pinch... he could slip into water and escape.

The first time Duncan had ever seen the boy... years ago... it had been on a waterfront. He'd been small, frightened, with a tear-stained face... and a believable story about having just lost his parents in an accident a few years before.

It had been a sham, of course. Yet even when Joe had explained just who the Watchers knew the boy to be... an eight hundred and fourteen year old immortal who wormed his way into an adult immortal's confidence... letting him or her feel responsible for the boy... eager to look out for him and teach him... Duncan had defended the Kenny. Even when he learned that Kenny killed those who befriended him, getting behind them to take their heads, Duncan had determined to try and help the boy. At least until he and those he cared for became targets.

"In the end there can be only one, MacLeod," Kenny had taunted him during a fight with the Highlander the boy might have won. "Why shouldn't it be me?" It had been luck that Duncan had managed to get free of the trap... and that Kenny had escaped.

The next time they'd met... Duncan had learned that the boy had been one of Amanda's early students. Duncan understood the desperation of an immortal trapped within a body too small to be an effective weapon. He'd had no quarrel with the boy until he'd tried to kill his mortal friend Anne Lindsey that first time. And the second time? Kenny had tried to arrange both his death and Amanda's.

"He's playing the game the only way he knows how!" Duncan had insisted to Joe when he'd first heard how old the boy was. Even now... Duncan knew... Kenny was playing the game for keeps. But this time... Duncan had no reservations about taking the boy's head. This time... Kenny's actions had gone too far. By targeting and killing Duncan's friends... the boy had finally signed his death warrant.

Duncan saw rather than felt someone exit the alley. He narrowed his eyes. A small shadow... like that of a child... moving slowly... cautiously... straight for the river area. H e felt no immortal... but he had only vaguely felt one in Amanda's apartment. Duncan's expression darkened as he stalked the fleeing child.

Arriving on the river banks... in a wide park where green grass still grew, Duncan looked around. It was too quiet. He closed his eyes and continued to turn... depending on senses other than sight to feel that which could not be seen.

"_I had to trust my instincts against Kane_," Connor's voice sounded in his head. "_I couldn't trust what I saw... only what I felt._"

Duncan carefully drew his _katana_... the very deserted nature of this small park made the chance of a fight ever more possible. With it before him... shifting positions... Duncan moved along the gravel paths and onto the grass... the fluid motion of his _kata_ second nature. Movement after movement... before... behind... above... to the left... to the right... behind again. In an ever increasing speed and variance ... the Highlander concentrated... straining for the sound... the feel... the smell of anything that would tell him where the boy stood hiding... invisible... still... waiting...

At the edge of the park he heard the on-coming steps of two people. He spared a glance in that direction... grateful to see Amanda and Amber.

"He's here!" Duncan snapped. "Focus and be silent!" He knew his voice sounded harsh... but they had to understand what he was doing. Once more he closed his eyes... concentrating... moving.

To his right was a sudden movement.

Duncan sliced in that direction... trusting that the women knew enough to stay back. His sword clashed against something... sparks rising with the force of the blow of steel on steel. Swiftly he parried... but felt only empty air.

He narrowed his eyes. At the far edge... slowly coming into a three-cornered wedge about the area where the sparks had erupted... were Amber and Amanda.

Their swords drawn... like Duncan... they performed moves... attempting to encircle the hidden Kenny.

Amber's blade hit something.

The three shifted closer in together... almost as if they were choreographing a dance. Their movements and swords were filling in the gaps between them. All eyes were focused on the empty space still between them.

With a roar... something slammed against Duncan's right arm... trying to get past him. Duncan pivoted and lunged... slicing with his _katana_... letting gravity help with the power of the stroke. Then he felt air move to his left.

A blade seemed to move past his head... missing him by inches. Amanda yelled and moved in... slamming her sword into the area.

"He cannot hide from all of us for long!" Amber's voice called out. "He'll make an error... one of us will see!"

Duncan nodded. He pulled back and reset himself... glaring at the darkened ground... watching the gravel... watching the grass. He took a second position... but did not commit himself... "_Patience, Duncan... it is the patient man who wins the day!_" Again Connor's voice was within him. Duncan smiled.

The barest movement of gravel betrayed the boy's presence. Duncan waited. Again he noted the slightest crunch.

Duncan moved swiftly... almost faster than the eye could follow. He sliced and lunged... suddenly aware that he was connecting with a sword once more. He kept up the attack... pushing the now-shimmering form of someone taller than a mere boy toward the women.

Amber and Amanda... suddenly aware of just where their opponent was moving... attempted to block his way.

With an escape route blocked... and all means of escape cut off for one hidden from sight... the massive form of the Kurgan appeared.

"It's an illusion!" screamed Duncan as he kept up his rain of blows. "Don't withdraw!"

"They cannot interfere!" snarled Kurgan. Yet even as he said this... he seemed to split into three illusions... Kurgan... Kane... and Jacob Kell.

The Kurgan with his power met the Highlander's blows... parrying off each stroke... slamming with immense power against Duncan's sword until the Highlander's very arm trembled with the effort of continuing.

Jacob Kell grinned evilly at Amber and began his attack. His knowledge of Connor's fighting methods... meeting everything the girl had... pushing her back... back... back. He'd watched her... he knew her... she was nothing.

Kane whipped his tongue out at Amanda. "Ooh... Back for another embrace. Let's dance!" He twirled, his coattails seeming to reach into the darkness like vulture's wings as he advanced against the immortal thief... checking her every move... meeting her every stroke. Coming in close to lick her face and then pulling back to laugh at her inability to touch him.

It was useless... Duncan realized Kenny was using all the illusions against each of them... but could he keep it up... Where was the boy? As real as Kurgan's blows felt... they couldn't possibly be real... they were an illusion designed to protect the true immortal... the one he had to kill. Duncan shifted and met Kurgan's blow... pushing with all his strength against the massive immortal. Where was the boy?

Suddenly Duncan closed his eyes and focused... ignoring the rain of blows that landed and made no cut. He found the calm center of his being and waited... as once he had calmly met and defeated the assault of Ahriman.

A crunch of gravel sounded.

Duncan sliced suddenly to his right... feeling his _katana_ slice into a body... hearing that body fall.

"Owww!"

Duncan's eyes snapped open as he turned, raising his _katana_ to make the killing blow. Around him... Amanda's and Amber's opponents faded into insubstantial wisps of the rising fog from the river.

On the ground... lay a shivering and bleeding Grace Chandel. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes as she lifted one hand from her bleeding side and reached toward him... blood dripping from her fingers. 

"Duncan?" she asked

Duncan MacLeod hesitated... then closed his eyes as his _katana_ descended on her huddled form. He felt sick.

Even as he heard the head fall... his _katana_ slipped from his fingers and the quickening exploded around him. Duncan fell to his knees and bowed his head to the inevitable.


	10. Chapter 10

***10***

A shifting opalescent mist rose from the headless body... it writhed and seemed to Amanda's eyes to fold back on itself as if it were several quickenings... not one. For a moment she had the impression that it was like the ancient mythological hydra... a serpent with many heads... each snapping at the others... each attempting to swallow the others. The feel in the air was charged with both electricity and sick dread.

Amber whispered aloud, "Dear God in heaven... what _is_ that thing?" Never in her two hundred years had she ever seen such a quickening.

The image rose in the air as if it were about to strike. Suddenly... and with deliberate aim... all four heads rushed at Duncan's kneeling form as if in a hurry to see which one would devour him first. In a great flash of released power... there was an outward surge of crackling energy.

Amanda felt as if even she was being violated somehow... as if some part of that horrendous quickening had chosen to rip through her... become part of her. She swung her sword violently about her... attempting to fend off the sick feeling of that cold hand that reached for her... attempting to caress her... enter her.

Beside her... Amber backed away... suddenly aware that standing too close to either Amanda or Duncan might not be too wise at the moment. Around the young immortal... quickening crackled and sparked... but rather than grasp her as it had done the others... it forced her away... as if it had no interest in her at all.

On his knees... Duncan MacLeod let the power rush over him and into him. A dark well seemed to open up about him and he descended into darkness. He felt the wail of thousands and the tortured cries of friends and lovers screaming in terror. But Duncan had known the utter descent into depravation of a dark quickening... and this was not dark... just sick and powerful... and it was not just Kenny.

"_It is Kurgan! It is Kane! It is Kell!_" came Connor's voice from deep within the younger Highlander. "_Let me help you defeat them again! Let me take them on this time my brother! For this I am with you!_

"Together!" roared Duncan. "It will take both of us!" Within his mind, the quickenings once more seemed to take physical form and slash away at his defenses... but this time... Connor stood beside him. Expertly... the Highlanders worked together... their united power, strength and knowledge... their years of practice... their unity of purpose to protect the clan... becoming an ever-growing force of power against which the divided and self-centered trio could not stand.

One by one they seemed to fall and be absorbed and transformed. First Kell... too slow and unwieldy against the Highlanders' speed and efficiency. Then Kane... whose skills paled once illusion could not be used... having no power over the Scotsmen's inner thoughts. Finally... as one the clansmen faced and overwhelmed even the mighty Kurgan whose remaining power was nothing compared to theirs.

To Amber's eyes... Duncan still knelt... his arms spread wide open as the hydra-like quickening struck at him again and again... losing first one head... and then another... At last the sparkling and electric quickening seemed to rush into him and then explode outward into the street lamps... into the Millennium Wheel revolving down river... into the auto alarms going off throughout London... into the transformers whose explosions left a sudden city-wide blackout. 

Amber gasped at the power... In the sudden _whoosh_ of air about her... she could hear her old teacher's laugh.

"_Heh... heh... heh... We cannot do it alone! It takes us all!_" 

To Amber's left, Amanda had finally collapsed on the ground moaning. Some piece of this odd quickening still surrounded her... and she was losing her battle.

"What do I do Connor?" Amber whispered. "What can I do?"

"_Help her!_"

"How?" But even as she asked... Amber knew. She knelt beside Amanda and pulled her struggling form close in her lap. She began to sing... a bit of an old Irish lullaby her mum had once sung to her. Connor had often asked to hear it when they'd been together. "_It calms the mind,_" he'd said. So Amber sang and hummed... rocking Amanda's shivering form.

Duncan rose... oddly calm and complete. He reached down and picked up his _katana_... giving Kenny's headless form only a momentary glance to be certain it had truly been the troubled boy... then he knelt next to the women.

Amber's voice whispered to Amanda as she hugged her... as a mother might hug a child. It rose clear and pure on the air as she rocked the older woman back and forth.

Duncan placed one arm about Amber's shoulders and gently stroked the side of Amanda's face... slick with sweat. "Amanda..." he whispered. "Don't leave me now... come back to me." Duncan leaned down and kissed her slack lips... feeling a tear well up in his eye. "Don't leave me Amanda... I need you."

Within Amanda's mind she could feel Kenny slinking around... feeding on her guilt and insecurities about him... about all the pupils she'd failed. He whispered dark thoughts and spoke of endless pleasures. Kenny slid through her being like a snake.

Gradually Amanda sensed the boy's spirit was increasingly distracted by Amber's singing. As if it were something he needed and wanted. For all his years... he was still a child... still a little boy who needed a mother... Kenny desperately needed to be loved.

Amanda could feel Duncan's kiss... hear his words... but first she had to deal with Kenny's spirit... or he would haunt her forever.

She reached for him with her mind and like Amber... held his spirit as Amber held her body. She wrapped her arms about him and welcomed him into her. "Shh... my little one... I will never desert you again. Rest now... it's all right Kenny... You can stop running now. I'm here."

The boy's spirit gradually calmed and faded into hers. Amanda opened her eyes... smiling at the concern on Duncan's face. "How much do you need me Duncan?" she teased.

Duncan's face broke into a joyous grin as he pulled back and then pulled her up into his arms. "More than you can guess!" he asserted as he kissed her with all the focus of his heart and soul.

Beside them Amber grinned and nodded thoughtfully... "You were wrong Connor!" she said silently. "We should grasp love wherever we find it. We should meet it head on and take it in to us. For it is our love that makes us what we are... not our fears."

Around them... sirens began going off.

With a laugh Duncan looked around. "We better get out of here before someone sees us!" He slung one arm about Amanda, keeping her tightly within his embrace. Amber picked up Amanda's sword with a nod and followed the couple from the river-park and back into the darkened London streets.

***

Amanda rubbed her hands over the newly installed door and smiled to the joiner. "Very nice work indeed."

The workman tipped his cap and nodded as he gathered his tools and left. Amanda closed the door and shot the bolt... then turned to face her companions. "And this time I will be far more careful just who I let in here."

Duncan laughed and pulled her onto his lap. She kicked up her heels as she held his face in her hands playfully kissing him.

Beside them, Amber laughed, "I think this is my cue to move on."

Duncan, running his hands lightly over Amanda's legs, looked at Amber with a smile, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Oh I can read the signs on the wall," Amber winked, rose and donned her coat.

"Don't be a stranger... You have to come and visit us often!" Amanda said... though her attention was clearly on the man in whose lap she sat.

"Aye... and come see me too!" Amber tossed off as she straightened her coat and reached down to polish off the glass of whiskey she'd been drinking.

"Where will you be?" Duncan asked.

"Oh... I think I'll go back to me job in Paris. There's a man there I find rather interesting."

Duncan chuckled.

Amanda looked at them both curiously. "Am I missing something here?"

"Tell you later," Duncan said.

"Good friends are too precious to waste. Time is too short... even for us... to lose a single moment." Amber replied with a knowing nod. "And mortals... they have even less time than we do. We should cherish them all." She crossed the room, unbolted the door and left.

Amanda gazed deeply into Duncan's brown eyes... and felt she could remain there forever. She leaned in for a long kiss... feeling in that moment... that life was just perfect. She whispered into Duncan's ear, "So few of us left... so little time... We should focus on the time we have."

Duncan shifted her in his arms and stood, turning about as he smiled and carried her toward her bed, "I couldn't agree more!"

#30#


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